We’re delighted to introduce you to Matthew Nutting. He’s the Director of Radfield Home Care, a high quality home care service for the people of Harrogate and surrounding areas.

We are very grateful to this great business for becoming one our latest sponsors. Matthew will also be joining us for our next exciting event! We had a chat with him to find out about his work and his heart to care for our community…

How did you first get into the care sector?

I first got involved in the care sector because I wanted to help people. And I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do with my life. A lot of people in the care sector end up there by default. They know they want to help. They know they want to do something practical, but maybe they haven’t been particularly good in academics – I could look after someone but I probably couldn’t write an essay! That’s a skill I’ve had to learn and teach myself throughout the years. But I enjoy helping people and seeing their smiling faces when you do something for them.

No one’s in it to make millions, but you do have an impact on the community. You do have an impact on the people around you and people have said to me “You’re doing something that’s good”, “You’re doing something that’s worthwhile”. I’m a big believer in the idea that you’re not remembered by how much money you make but by how many lives you’ve touched.

Do you think your background as an Occupational Therapist has given you an insight into how we can support people in our community?

Yeah absolutely. So occupational therapy is one of the only dual-trained healthcare professions, so you train in mental health and physical health. It’s very much about holistic therapy for individuals.

The term ‘Occupational Therapy’ can be quite misleading, in that people automatically think that ‘Occupation’ means their job, when it’s actually nothing to do with their job. Occupation is what we do everyday. Occupation is getting yourself dressed in the morning, making yourself lunch, or taking your child to nursery. All of these things are your occupation and they are different for every person.

Occupational therapy is needed when there’s something in your life, whether’s it a social, mental, or physical health problem that prevents you from doing the things that make you you. OT is about looking at how you can support that person to overcome that.

You can never truly understand what people are going through – there’s a big difference between empathy and sympathy.

You shouldn’t try to sympathise with people, you don’t know what’s going on inside or what they’ve experienced. But if you do your best to realise that it is hard for them and that they need help, it gives you a little bit of background.

Why have you chosen to support the Harrogate Hub?

I love the fact that the Hub is about making changes to society, and making changes in the community. At Radfield Home Care we are really focused on being able to change the care industry, and make an impact on the community and the society around us.

We’re really proud to be acquainted with the Living Wage Foundation, because we know that some of the most vulnerable people in society are paid low wages and they are often looking after vulnerable people themselves. Yet they are not being valued for the job they do, which is an incredibly hard job. I think we’re in a really unique position in that we can promote a healthy society and community. I’m really keen on promoting local jobs for local people, to look after local people. If I ever get to the stage where I need care in my life, I would like to know that it’s Brenda from down the street who’s looking after me, someone who knows me and who knows about the community I live in. It’s a great thing to be in a community and to have support from that community.

I’ve also chosen to support the Harrogate Hub, because of its work with churches. The church has always been a big part of my life. I was born into a church and into a Christian family, so that’s always been the normal life for me. I’ve seen the values of community and the value of churches. Church isn’t about just standing in a room and singing hymns and saying prayers. Church is about the way you live your life, the way you hold yourself, the way you treat people and the values you hold.

What issues do you think people face in Harrogate and how do you think this impacts them?

I think in Harrogate there’s a massive misconception.

“Oh Harrogate’s nice…there are no problems in the Dales… it’s all money…” Just because the problems are hidden, doesn’t mean the problems aren’t there.

I think people in various parts of the community can face different kinds of stigma. People easily become lonely and isolated because the transport links aren’t always good. In the communities in the Dales, especially in the older generations, people struggle with mobility and getting on public transport by themselves. They need a bit of a helping hand, especially people with dementia. It’s very easy for them to get left behind and lost within their community, and so they can suddenly find themselves quite isolated.

Some people enjoy retirement, but some people can feel like they’ve lost their role within their community. When someone is diagnosed with dementia, for example, it can become easy for them to feel like they’ve lost their place in society. They become harder to engage with. I think that’s where we’ve got a unique opportunity. Places like the Hub and home care agencies, and the whole of society too, can help support people who are struggling. We know from research in dementia that it’s beneficial for people to have social interaction. We can help them keep in touch with the community, which hugely benefits their wellbeing.

How do you see yourself helping the local community in five years time?

At Radfield Home Care, we’re really keen to be able to establish a sustainable and ethical quality home care service. So in five years time, I hope to be building the business and establishing ourselves. I hope that we will have a reputation for providing good quality home care to those who need it most. We want to be able to work with local charities, churches, employers, businesses, social services, and NHS services, so that in five years we will be embedded into the community.

Do you want to find out more about dementia and how we can support people with it? Join us at the Hub for an engaging workshop run by Matthew Nutting on Tuesday 18th September, 7-9pm. Book your free place here. All donations on the night will go towards the work of the Harrogate Hub.

Following on from our last month’s post on youth loneliness, today’s blog post focuses on a topic that still needs a huge amount of attention brought to it: Bullying. Most commonly defined as “behaviour that intentionally hurts someone else”. Loneliness is a closely linked issue at hand.

Bullying can be manifested in many different forms, whether that be verbal abuse, emotional abuse or physical assault. More recently of course, with the increase in access to social media sites, cyber-bullying has become the more prevalent way of hurting others.

As a student in my final years of secondary education, I have unfortunately been a witness to a fair share of bullying among my peer group and I strongly stand by the fact that this problem needs to be tackled head on.

According to a recent survey, it was found that 45% of young people experience bullying before the age of 18. That’s almost 1 in 2 children. It was also reported that 7 in 10 young people have been victims of cyberbullying. Not only is this deeply troubling, it really highlights the enormity of bullying in today’s society.

There are so many direct effects of both bullying and cyber-bullying, including loneliness. Any form of bullying can make a child feel especially vulnerable and isolated, and they often feel unable to reach out to anyone due to the fear of ‘making it worse’. This isolation can then result in mental health issues like anxiety or depression, with some devastating outcomes, such as self-harm.

It has been found that 30% of young people turn to self-harming as a coping mechanism.

In the saddest of cases, suicide is seen as the only option by these young people, with 10% having attempted it after being bullied.

So, after so much research, after so many articles, why is bullying still so common in our schools?

Despite many schools having a zero-tolerance on bullying, it is still too easy for many bullies to get away with it. The victims are often too afraid to speak out for themselves . Sometimes schools simply aren’t aware of the serious implications for children being bullied. Bullies often find any and every reason to pick on others, whether that’s things such as people’s race, sexuality, gender – or even victims being shyer or more introverted than them.

It’s worth remembering though that more often than not, bullies feel the need to be abusive towards others, because they are struggling themselves. It puts them in a situation of control, when in their personal life, they may not be. They often have their own insecurity issues, leading them to inflict their negativity onto others.

You may be wondering, what are we going to do to help?

At the Hub, we hope to be part of the solution, working alongside other agencies in our area. The Hub is currently in conversation with local youth leaders and agencies to seek practical answers. If you would like to join the discussion, please get in touch at harrogatehub@gmail.com. We are also working with Harrogate youth leaders to trial a new youth project. Over August, we are welcoming young people into the Hub on Monday evenings. We provide pastoral care and a place for those affected by bullying to feel safe and valued. We want young people to know there’s somewhere to turn when they’re struggling at school. At the Hub, we provide a place where they can talk through their problems in confidence.

Are you a young person who is feeling isolated or do you know someone who is? Please drop into the Hub 4-6pm on Mondays in August*. You will find a safe space to be yourself and talk things through.